Rapid and high efficient biomass harvesting is not only critical for biomass engineering and biofuel production but also important for water or wastewater treatment industries to produce clean water. High efficient algal biomass removal from water will lower the operational cost and increase the economic viability of produced products (biomass, biofuel or bioenergy, and clean water). Some of the current dewatering technologies, such as flocculation and centrifugation, require a large amount of energy or chemical addition.
Membrane filtration is a common dewatering technology. During membrane filtration, a membrane serves as a barrier, allowing passage of water while retaining algae or other substances to be collected. Membrane filtration does not utilize any harmful chemical additives. However, traditional membrane filtration faces major challenges such as polymer aging, membrane fouling, and high costs (e.g., caused by high transmembrane pressures and frequent membrane cleaning). In particular, traditional membrane separation significantly suffers from membrane fouling due to either the formation of a cake layer of algal cells, or more commonly due to organic matter adsorption onto the membrane surface. Thus, there is a need to develop innovative membrane filtration processes that can efficiently separate algae with strong antifouling characteristics.